For the Science
by mickeydubs
Summary: A look at Delphine's thoughts when Cosima is faced with Leekie and his theories of neolution. Based on prompt.


**Prompt: What could possibly be passing through Delphine's mind as she watched Cosima "confronting" Dr Leekie at the end of his lecture, and then again during their dinner.**

For the Science

"Bullshit." The word fell easily from Cosima's lips, and Delphine glanced at her with wide eyes.

Despite Leekie's amused chuckle, Cosima's boldness made Delphine nervous. Leekie was a powerful man - more so than she cared to admit to herself - and she felt somehow responsible for Cosima's response to his ideas. At the same time, however, the confidence that oozed from Cosima's demeanor was intoxicating. It was the kind of stan-up-for-yourself-ness that Delphine only wished she had.

_Mon dieux, Delphine, control yourself. Stare any harder, and you'll burn a hole through her face._

She had struggled throughout the presentation to keep her eyes forward. If Cosima caught her staring, she would realize that something was off. Under the cover of semi-darkness, she could cast glances at her sidelong and freely allow herself to grin at Cosima's uninhibited, skeptical reactions to Dr. Leekie's ideas.

It was refreshing that Cosima was less than impressed with Leekie and his work. Having been so enraptured by it herself, she felt a strange sense of rebellion-by-association, being aligned with this girl who so clearly thought these theories of neolution were giant stinking loads.

When the lights came back up, and she introduced Cosima to her mentor, under the guise of introducing herself as well, she'd expected her to react similarly to the way she herself had - with a dignified sense of awe and inspiration.

Delphine had signed on to the project because Dr. Leekie's science was at the forefront of cutting-edge. It was experimental and advanced and exciting. It was an opportunity the likes of which she'd probably never see again in her lifetime.

It was almost worth the degrading humiliation she'd gone through to be a part of it.

Sleeping with Leekie had never been part of the plan. Upon entering the DYAD institute's research program, she had only the purest intentions. Delphine was an intellectual. She was a scientist. She wanted only to learn. She wanted to grow, in her mind and as a person. She wanted to be involved in the advancement of this biological phenomenon. She wanted to gain the experience and knowledge that a project of this caliber would provide her. She wanted to be there for the progress that this work would inevitably bring to the scientific community as a whole. But in order to do that, she had to be granted access. And when Aldous Leekie approaches you with one of his... propositions, saying no immediately barred you from any experiments worth working on.

So when Cosima openly viewed Leekie's ideas with a dubious bias, Delphine couldn't help but be impressed.

Stealing the wine afterwards didn't hurt either.

* * *

The faux smile slipped off of her face momentarily as she led Leekie up to the table where Cosima sat. The more time the two of them spent together, the less inclined she was to bring him into the little bubble that they'd come to exist in when they were alone.

As they sat, Leekie jumped right in and attempted to engage Cosima by asking her about her research and studies, and Delphine forced herself back into character.

She watched Cosima carefully. It had become clear to her that she had little interest in Leekie and his thoughts on "self-directed evolution", but she entertained his questions with tact and grace. Delphine's manicured smile faded into a more genuine one as she saw Cosima's eyes when she spoke of her own work. Even if she didn't value the input or perspective offered by the man to her left, Delphine could tell that she was passionate about the science, and she explained her thesis to him in-depth.

Delphine wanted to leave. She wanted to take Cosima away from Leekie and tell her to start over. Re-introduce herself and focus on the science. Biology.

Chemistry.

But she had a job to do. Leekie was there to help Cosima, and she couldn't get in the way of that. She had a part to play.

And play it, she did.


End file.
